Hybridity in Arudhati Roy's the God of Small Things
Hybridity in Arudhati Roy’s The God of Small Things
Postcolonialism deals with the effects of colonization on cultures and societies. As originally used by historians after the Second World War in terms such as the post-colonial state, ‘post-colonial’ had a clearly chronological meaning, designating the post-independence period. However, from the late 1970s the term has been used by literary critics to discuss the various cultural effects of colonization. The term has been widely used to signfy the political, linguistic and cultural experience of societies that were former European colonies. In the present age we can say without any shadow of doubt that post colonialism has been primarily concerned to examine the processes and effects of, and reactions to, European colonialism from the sixteenth century up to and including the neo-colonialism of the present day. No doubt that postcolonialism possesses many characteristics and talks about Identity, Racial and social discrimination, Hybridity, etc, but here we are mainly concern with the question of Hybridity especially with reference to examine Arudhati Roy’s epoch making work named The God of Small Things (1997). Every human being, in addition to having his own personal identity, has a sense of who he is in relation to the larger community--the nation. Postcolonial studies is the attempt to strip away conventional perspective and examine what that national identity might be for a postcolonial subject. To read literature from the perspective of postcolonial studies is to seek out--to listen for, that indigenous, representative voice which can inform the world of the essence of existence as a colonial subject, or as a postcolonial citizen. Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing.
Ania Loomba is one the most remarkable writers on postcolonial discourse.
Postcolonialism deals with the effects of colonization on cultures and societies. As originally used by historians after the Second World War in terms such as the post-colonial state, ‘post-colonial’ had a clearly chronological meaning, designating the post-independence period. However, from the late 1970s the term has been used by literary critics to discuss the various cultural effects of colonization. The term has been widely used to signfy the political, linguistic and cultural experience of societies that were former European colonies. In the present age we can say without any shadow of doubt that post colonialism has been primarily concerned to examine the processes and effects of, and reactions to, European colonialism from the sixteenth century up to and including the neo-colonialism of the present day. No doubt that postcolonialism possesses many characteristics and talks about Identity, Racial and social discrimination, Hybridity, etc, but here we are mainly concern with the question of Hybridity especially with reference to examine Arudhati Roy’s epoch making work named The God of Small Things (1997). Every human being, in addition to having his own personal identity, has a sense of who he is in relation to the larger community--the nation. Postcolonial studies is the attempt to strip away conventional perspective and examine what that national identity might be for a postcolonial subject. To read literature from the perspective of postcolonial studies is to seek out--to listen for, that indigenous, representative voice which can inform the world of the essence of existence as a colonial subject, or as a postcolonial citizen. Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing.
Ania Loomba is one the most remarkable writers on postcolonial discourse.